Bayside Restaurant Offers Taste Of Spain

When making our pilgrimage to the replicas of Columbus` famous trio of ships -- the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria -- we found the perfect place to celebrate the occasion.

We wanted to prolong the Spanish exposure, find the ideal prelude, a staging area where we could commence the thought transference to all things Spanish.

Las Tapas is just that place.

It`s Spanish. Not Cuban, Colombian, Nicaraguan (they`re elsewhere in Bayside) or Mexican. But Spanish. In spirit and setting, and maybe in service, although we knew that most of the wait staff would have to represent the richness of Miami`s Central and South American community.

The moment we entered we were convinced we had to stay.

Las Tapas was the place for us. We could watch one of the best shows in Bayside -- the seafood and meat grill chefs working a few feet away from the guests as they are guided to their tables.

We hesitated long enough to watch the langoustine being converted from its insipid gray state to something far more appetizing in color; and we observed the lobster tails curling as they absorbed the intense heat from the grill.

The waiter`s line is behind that kind of action, separated from the grill chefs by counters and shelves filled with the soups, garnishes, and some of the salad fixings.

All of which we found immensely appetite-building as we admired the setting. Sure, the hams, the sausages, the knotted strands of peppers and garlic were all plastic; but they were strung overhead and along the brick arches with such style we didn`t mind. The real thing would be difficult if not impossible to maintain.

The design is as eye-popping as El Cid on Le Jeune Road in Miami or Casa Juancho on Calle Ocho -- another favorite stop for the special tapas appetizers and Spanish seafood. But those two winners were put up by the same Valls Enterprises team that also owns two of the landmark eateries in town, Versailles and La Carreta.

The menu in their Bayside beauty is strictly Spanish and, remembering any number of excellent meals we have enjoyed in that country, that meant for us something with calamares, camarones, vieiras, champinones, Chistorra, and a bowl of Caldo Gallego.

Let`s start with the last-named first. That`s Galician soup, a hearty brew of white beans and potatoes, cooked collard greens (turnip will do in an emergency) and Spanish ham, priced at $3.25.

Caldo Gallego, and not gazpacho, is the first and best test of a Spanish kitchen. Gazpacho, which a few years back was the darling of the gourmet clubs found all over suburbia, has too many variations to find a standard of excellence. The Galician soup has more rigid qualifications to enter center ring.

Are the beans overcooked into mush, the potatoes too soft? Or are those starchy ingredients so undercooked they taste raw and harsh? Are there too many or not enough leaves from the collard plant? Are there only a few bits of ham in the bowl or a lot?

On all counts the Caldo Gallego passed with Spanish banners flying proudly. And so, too, did the calamari, the calamares found on the tapas lists, for $4.95. The breading was lighter than found in Italian restaurants and was there only to play a minor role in flavor and texture.

The $6.95 shrimp brochette, the Brochetta de Camarones Plancha, was also a carefully seasoned, perfectly prepared dish. A half-dozen shrimp on a skewer arrived on a bed of yellow rice that had bits, nothing to overwhelm the tender kernels of rice.

The Seafood Grill, La Cazuelita, also was impressive, although the shrimp had been allowed to linger too long on the grill. The scallops and mushrooms were very good, and the combination of lemon and garlic that was judiciously added was excellent.

All that plus super rolls, a lot of smiles and a setting that was gloriously reminiscent of so many places we love in Espana.